Broadband technologies jumpstart rural economies

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS – Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) have introduced legislation that aims to close the rural-urban digital divide. The Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Act of 2018 would call on the FCC to establish a national standard that offers a point of reference for whether rural wireless service is comparable to what’s being provided in urban areas. Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and David McKinley (R-W.Va.) have introduced a companion bill in the House. … Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) have introduced the Support Startup Business Act, legislation that would enable recipients of federal government research grants to use a portion of those funds to boost their own startups.